


Child Support

by rebel_wren



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Awkwardness, Ex-Girlfriend, F/M, Ficlet, Fluff, Original Character(s), Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 21:16:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17475122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebel_wren/pseuds/rebel_wren
Summary: Hera and Kanan have to meet a contact in a town Kanan's lived in before. When the contact turns out to be one of Kanan's exes, it's about as awkward as you could imagine.





	Child Support

Kanan shifted nervously in the old wooden barstool, scanning the room again quickly. Hera watched him, with one eyebrow raised.

“What’s up with you?”

His eyes snapped to her, and he looked startled. “Huh? Oh, nothing. Nothing. Just… taking in our surroundings.”

“I’m pretty sure you’ve done that about fourteen times already.”

He gave her a sideways smile that they both knew wasn’t convincing. “Contact could show up at any minute, right? Can never be too careful!”

“Mmhmm. Are you okay?”

“I’m perfect!” Kanan squeaked. “Just super excited about the intel. Can’t you see?”

Hera shook her head, and took a sip from her drink. “Seriously, Kanan.”

He sighed and his face fell as he dropped the act. “It’s just…” he leaned in close, dropping his voice to what’s barely above a whisper. “I lived in this town for a little bit, right before I moved to Gorse. Used to go to this bar actually.”

Hera forms a small ‘O’ with her mouth and she slowly nods. “Oh, that’s- um, okay. Do you, uh, see anybody you recognize?”

“No. Bartender is a new guy. There’s a couple of the regulars still here, but they haven’t seen me yet. Never talked to me much anyway, doubt they remember.”

Hera frowned as she comprehended his words. “Then why are you so nervous?”

He looked towards the floor and chewed on his bottom lip uneasily for a moment. “Well… um, you see…” His voice trailed off, and Hera lifted her eyebrows.

“What did you do?”

“While I lived here, there was this… woman… and-”

“Oh no.”

“We didn’t exactly, uh, leave off on the best terms.”

“And by that, you mean…”

He swallowed, and looked off shamefully. “I mean that I kinda left one night, without really a warning. I left a note.”

“ _ A note? _ ”

“Well, it was before you showed up and made me into… whatever I am now, alright? I wasn’t so upstanding then.”

Hera rolled her eyes and pressed her face into her palm, sighing deeply. “Okay, so if this woman saw you tonight-”

“I can’t imagine she’d be too happy wi-” Kanan froze mid-sentence when a very familiar figure came in through the door of the bar. Hera scrunched her face up and looked behind her, where he was looking. She looked back to him with a smile.

“That’s just our contact, don’t worry.”

His jaw dropped. “She’s our contract?”

“Yes? Is there a problem?” She inspected his face for a moment, and then everything started to click together. Kanan stared at the floor, and Hera gasped quietly as she brought a hand up to her mouth. Kanan buried his face in his own hands, and Hera just blinked in disbelief.

“Of course it’s her,” Kanan said, his voice muffled.

“Alright, alright,” Hera looked over to see the woman looking around the bar. She made eye contact, and the woman started to walk towards Hera, being slowed down by the occasional bar patron. Hera quickly looked back to Kanan.

“She’s coming over.”

He lifted his head. “She’s what?”

“Just act casual! Maybe she won’t remember you.”

Kanan seemed offended, pulled out of his nervous state. “What, you don’t think I’d be memorable?”

“Shhh!”

Hera turned around to greet the woman as soon as she’s close enough. Hera quickly stepped in front of Kanan, blocking him out of the woman’s view, and shook her hand.

“Hello, it’s nice to finally meet you in person.”

“It’s nice to meet you as well,” the woman says. She’s a pale-skinned human with red hair, and though they’re in the Outer-Rim, there’s just a hint of a Core Worlds accent.

Hera doesn’t know her name, and she doesn’t know Hera’s. Anti-Imperial business was best done anonymously.

“You said your partner would also be coming, correct?” The woman asks. “Is that him?” She nodded towards where Kanan is facing the wall, tapping his fingers absentmindedly.

“Um, well-”

“If it isn’t him, we can’t have anyone overhearing our business,” she added, stepping around Hera and trying to get Kanan’s attention. “Sir?”

Kanan finally looks up, and Hera looks over her shoulder to see guilt all over his face. The woman swallowed hard, and looked at Kanan in surprise. Kanan tried to smile nervously at her.

“Uh… hey?”

“Kanan Jarrus.”

Hera pursed her lips and looked between the two- she could practically feel the tension building.

“It’s been a while, huh?”

“Sure has. You come here to apologize?”

“I didn’t know you were the contact. I can apologize, though, if that’s what you want.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed. “What I  _ want _ ,” her voice is laced with ice. “Is for you to pay child support.”

Hera’s eyes widened, and so did Kanan’s as he started to sputter.

“Child… I… wh- why… why would I have to pay child support?”

“Why do you think?”

Kanan blinked, his mouth agape, and it took Hera a few moments to realize she was doing the same exact thing. Kanan’s expression started to soften, and he stood up slowly. “Listen, I… I had no idea, I’m so sorry. How… how much do you need? Do you need, uh, a babysitter or something? Because- I mean, I don’t know much about kids, but I could try, and-”

The woman was silent through his stressed rambling, and she seemed to inspect his face. Her lips slowly started to curl into a reluctant smile before she burst into hysterical laughter.

Kanan stopped talking and stepped back, confused. “What? What’s so funny?”

The woman continued to laugh, and Hera shared a look of concern with Kanan. He tilted his head, watching as she doubled over in laughter. “What’s so funny?” he asked again.

The woman started to collect herself, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes. “There’s no kid.”

“What?”

“You never got me pregnant! I just… you have no idea how long I’ve been dreaming about doing that to you.”

Kanan furrowed his brows and his mouth dropped open in offense. “Are you kidding me? You had me really worried there for a second!”

The woman got herself into another fit of laughter. “I know!”

Kanan looked to Hera for back-up, but merely found her stifling her own laughter with the back of her gloved hand. He shook his head.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

Hera snorted behind her hand, and Kanan shook his head again in disbelief. The woman calmed herself down again. “Alright, alright, I’m sorry.”

Kanan nodded with a sigh, averting his eyes from hers. “I’m sorry too.”

She smiled, and patted his shoulder. “Water under the bridge. I’ve got someone else now,” she said, and then looked quickly towards Hera. “And it looks like you do too.”

She pulled a datachip out of her pocket and handed it to Hera, who passed her a pouch of credits. Kanan just raised an eyebrow at her.

“You’re not mad?”

“Not anymore.”

She counted the credits in the pouch, and nodded to Hera as she shoved it into one of her pockets. She waved to both of them as she turned around.

“Good luck with whatever you’re doing with that.”

And with that, she left.

“I like her,” Hera said, still giggling just a little bit. She stood up and started to walk with Kanan out of the bar, back towards where they’d landed the  _ Ghost _ .

Kanan shook his head. “Of course you do.”

Hera flipped the datachip over with her fingers, and tucked it away. Kanan opened the door of the bar for both of them, and then flung an arm over her shoulders as they walked through the darkening street. Hera smiled at him, but she felt a little uneasy.

“Kanan?”

“Hmm?”

“You wouldn’t leave me, would you? Like the way you left her?”

Kanan stopped. They were under a little streetlamp, that cast a nice glow on his face. He smiled at her in that way he did that always gave her goosebumps.

“Never,” he said, taking both of her hands in both of his. “I promise.”

“I’m holding you to that,” Hera said, starting to lean into him for a kiss.

“You better.”


End file.
